The amount of blood bags available at the National Blood Transfusion Center has decreased by 30 percent because fewer citizens are donating blood, the center's manager, Doctor Afaf Ahmed, has said.
The amount of donations has decreased from 5,000 bags a month to only 3,500 for the months of May and June.
The reason for this decrease, according to Dr. Ahmed, is that students, who are the group of people the center depends on the most for donations, are busy during the examination period. Another reason is that summer has begun, a period that typically sees a decline in donations.
In response, the Health Ministry has requested all government ministers to open up their offices as well as the offices of public sector companies to collect donations from their employees, Dr. Ahmed added.
She explained that there is a shortage of Rh-negative blood throughout the year due to a lack of sufficient donors. She called on citizens to donate blood.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
